Mini A-100 reunion in Chengdu

Two weekends ago was Labor Day in the U.S. - one of those holidays like St. Patricks' Day or Memorial Day that you pretty much forget when living overseas. Unless, that is, you get federal holidays off because you work for the government. Taking advantage of the 3-day weekend, a friend from my A-100 based at the Guangzhou Consulate and I converged on Chengdu (成都), where another A-100 friend just arrived at post. 

Somehow, during 2.5 years of living in Yunnan, I never once ventured into Sichuan. Chengdu seems to be all about food, culture, and pandas, so we went forth with a list to conquer. First up, food: 

Sichuan hot pot; Mapo Tofu

Delicious as it is, you can't eat spicy food all the time. Chengdu is also home to a delightful Swedish cafe called Kaffestugan, where we had perfect coffee, waffles, and smoked salmon:

And culture? Chengdu is known for parks with tea houses where people while away the afternoon. We hit up People's Park (doesn't every Chinese city have to have a 人民公园 or a 人民路 or a 人民广场?) and rented a boat:

 Also nearby was a Tang-dynasty temple:

Another unique thing in Chengdu is 变脸, or a mask-changing show. The performers switch their colorful masks with lightning speed: 

And finally, pandas! 

We visited the "Chengdu Panda Base" just outside the city on our last day. Y'ALL. There are so many pandas here. Cubs playing around. Lazy adults. Baby pandas in incubators.

The panda park was really well done, much better than most zoos in China. And there are just so many pandas. Normally in the U.S. you visit a zoo and see one, maybe two pandas. This was panda after panda after panda.....ok, you get it :) Overall, a good trip to check out another potential future post and enjoy a new part of this vast country.